A personal "behind the scenes" insight from the perspectives of CEO-wife and COO-husband power team into what its like to be a family owned and operated small business called EBSCO Spring Company. www.ebscospring.com

A.O.G.

This week we received an email from one of our aerospace customers pleading for us to get them a spring for one of the parts they make. The email stated that this was the highest priority, A.O.G., aircraft on ground! A Sikorsky helicopter was grounded waiting on a part from them, that required a specific spring from us. WOW! Ebsco sprang into action (yes , pun intended). The email hit our sales department and was immediately forwarded to everyone and their dog (my new golden puppy stays in my office with me, so literally, and their dog). Just completing reading the email I look up and our production manager, Jason is standing in my door way. “What do you want me to do on the AOG part boss?” Before I can respond Liz, our V.P. Sales called on the intercom asking if I had seen the email. “We need to do whatever it takes, pay any expedite fees to outside process but this is a good customer and we need to make it happen”. As I am talking to her the production manager leaves.

I still haven’t really responded and the production manager appears at my door again, “I pulled one of the coilers off another job and personally brought him the wire. He is pulling the other wire out of the machine and started set up”. The scheduling and process manager Josh has already entered the new job and comes to give me a status report. The part usually was scheduled for 7 days in our plant and the outside process company required two weeks lead time. ” I am contacting the OSP to see what they can expedite”

This all transpired in the first hour after we received the email on Wednesday morning at 9:55. Our CEO, Cheryl comes in my office to see where we were at on the part. She gets personally involved. “Josh, pull in what ever favors we have with our OSP and see if they will do the part as soon as we deliver it to them” She then disappears to the production floor to check on the coiling progress. The production manager returns telling me that he informed all departments involved in the process of the spring and they began setting up in anticipation of the parts arrival to their departments.

Quality approved the first article off the coil machine and we were on our way. As springs came off they were checked and sent on for other process. As of Thursday morning we had springs ready to go to outside processing. Josh informed me that he had several conversations with the OSP but they would only say Monday at the latest, but would do their best. Monday was far better than two weeks, but our customer was in trouble and we needed better. After one final call we found the parts were already in process on Thursday morning and would be done later that day. Our delivery driver was at the OSP waiting for the parts and rushed them back to Ebsco. Quality Assurance verified the parts, final processing was done, certifications prepared and they went out Thursday afternoon for Friday morning delivery to our customer.

A normal three-week process condensed into TWO DAYS!

I want to thank our outside process vendor, Southwest United Industries. They have been an important business partner with Ebsco for years and they really came through.

I especially want to thank the entire Ebsco Team. They all launched into action, without being called. They had a sense of urgency and professionalism that made this all come together. I failed to mention while all this was going on, other orders were moving through the shop as usual with little or no interruption. As V.P. of Production I actually had very little to do other than monitor the progress. The production team made everything happen. I’m sure it is easy to have a sense of urgency when you are standing beside a multi million dollar helicopter that is grounded and costing thousands of dollars an hour in down time. The Ebsco team had that same sense of urgency in the spring they made to get that helicopter back in the air.

I am so proud of the Ebsco team. They all launched into action without being called. They worked as a team and they produced miracles. We can’t always take a three-week process and fit it in two days but when the chips are down, our team knows how to make it happen. Thank You Ebsco Team. You make me proud!